It’s rare for details of a competitor’s contract to be made available with public information usually limited to pay for a single scrap or possibly the length of a fighter’s deal. However, the ongoing battle between UFC and Bellator for the rights of lightweight Eddie Alvarez has been anything but ordinary, and as a result the world now knows exactly what both companies feel the former Bellator champion is worth.

MMAJunkie was able to obtain a copy of Bellator’s counter to the UFC’s offer where details from both sides were available based on Bellator’s “cut/paste” approach to matching the proposal.

Specifically, the UFC offered Alvarez $70,000 to show and $70,000 to win with a $5,000 increase for each victory in the Octagon. He is also set to receive a $250,000 signing bonus paid out over three installments in addition to a cut of any PPVs he’s part of ranging from $1.00-$2.50/purchase depending on the show’s buy rate.

The UFC made sure to sweeten the pot as well, offering Alvarez a quick path to a title-shot plus a guaranteed fight on a FOX card and a few stints as a guest commentator at events.

Meanwhile, on the Bellator side of things, Alvarez would have received the same pay up front in addition to money for other services such as $25,000 for a “behind-the-scenes” show for Spike TV and $100,000 for serving as a coach on the promotion’s upcoming reality show.

Alvarez is currently being sued for refusing to sign Bellator’s offer per an agreement in his original contract with the company giving them the right to match any other suitors’ terms. While Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney has stated the promotion fulfilled their legal obligations in what was thrown Alvarez’s way, the disgruntled fighter has claimed the deal does not match the UFC’s meaning he should be free to take his talents to the Octagon.

I’ve rambled on quite a bit already on this topic, and I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, but whatever ends up happening I’m just glad there is some legitimate competition to the UFC that is driving up the pay for fighters like Alvarez, so that it’s better aligned with fair market value.

And although things have already gotten ugly, I’m glad that it’s shed some light on details that are usually kept under pretty tight wraps, as far as what guys are actually being paid/guaranteed and, most importantly, what the free market says these guys’ services are actually worth. After all, the fighters are the product the UFC is getting rich off of. They’re the ones putting the real blood & sweat into the operation, and realistically the majority of guys will have a career window with the UFC of only a couple years or less. A guy like Joe Stevenson had a hell of a run with the company, and he lasted barely 5 years. In the meantime, guys get tossed aside once they stumble, and the UFC machine keeps chugging along…expanding/growing…raking in more $$…and bringing in new fighters.

The UFC is on a pretty good path to becoming a mainstream pro sport. It’ll be nice when fighter compensation catches up with that, and an incident like this oughtta help.

Eddie has some legal problems, but arguing about how much he’ll make in either organization is a good problem to have in this economy. The moral of the story is that competition is a good thing. Artificial limits on competition, which can be in the form of monopolies or governmental policies, hurt everybody eventually.

I just hope he doesn’t have a shaky start……seems like a number of highly-touted fighters making their UFC start have had issues with their first fights…..nice to see he’s gonna earn a good stack tho…….